Short and sweet.

We harvested a bumper crop of carrots yesterday. I had planted a 3' x 4' section of one of my beds with 3 different varieties and harvested plenty for the 2 of us with some to spare as well. With our heavy soils here in the southeast, I like to plant the shorter varieties of carrots. Sweet Treat Hybrid, Rocket, and Big Top all from Burpee seeds do well in my soil. I also like the fact that they are shorter and fit well into a freezer bag when I freeze the small ones whole. Root cellar storage is preferable, but when you don't have one of those, cut the larger carrots up into smaller pieces and blanch them in boiling water for 3 minutes or steam for 5 minutes. Small whole carrots can be blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes.  I like to cut mine into "sticks" about the same length as my small whole carrots for soup and stews. That way they all fit well into the freezer bags.

If you are looking for a way to prepare your freshly harvested carrots, try this recipe for glazed carrots.

Glazed Carrots

• 16 ounces of baby carrots (or bigger carrots cut into sticks)
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 Tbs. butter
• 2 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
In a saucepan, bring carrots and water to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Drain. Place carrots in a serving dish and keep warm. In the same pan, melt butter. Add brown sugar, mustard, ginger and salt; cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour over carrots and toss to coat.